The Los Angeles Dodgers are stuck in a heated playoff race. Only two games ahead of the San Diego Padres with 22 games to play, the NL West race is reaching peak fever pitch. And the Baltimore Orioles are in the Dodgers’ way.
The Dodgers enter as -168 moneyline favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook. The over/under is set at nine runs. Let’s dig into a preview, prediction and best bet for this Dodgers vs. Orioles matchup.
Dodgers vs. Orioles prediction, preview
It’s been a rocky couple of months for the Dodgers. Since July 4, they have the fourth-worst record in Major League Baseball. Despite the excellence of Shohei Ohtani and an expensive, star-laden roster, they’re stumbling to the finish line. Injuries to the pitching staff have been a significant concern. Appropriately, Friday’s starter, Tyler Glasnow, was scratched to be replaced by Shohei Ohtani, still working his way back from a year off from pitching.
Shohei finally hit five innings in his last start, giving up two hits and one run while striking out nine against the Reds. But he had two rough starts before that, and while he continues to build up his arm, there will be uncharacteristic growing pains. So it goes with injured pitchers.
Extremely available, thoroughly average, Dean Kremer is in his fourth straight year of throwing 125+ innings for the Orioles, and has a 4.03 ERA in that time. He doesn’t post gaudy strikeout totals or throw very hard; he also doesn’t give up tons of hard contact and rarely pitches his team out of games. It’s a fun stylistic clash on the mound: Big, bold, and volatile against understated and consistent.
Shohei is building back to greatness but has to contend with an Orioles team that is swinging the bats well in the last week. Then he cedes the ball to a bullpen that is on unstable ground. With the Dodgers struggling mightily, give me Baltimore as home underdogs.
